Posted by Nydia Streets of Streets Law in Florida Domestic Violence
Can a stalking injunction be entered against someone in Florida for posting negative things about someone else online? Social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and the like provide a platform for people to express themselves. How a court deciding a stalking injunction views postings on these sites depends on to whom the posts were directed. This was an issue in the case Wright v. Norris, 2D19-4643 (Fla. 2d DCA April 21, 2021).
The alleged victim filed a petition for protection against stalking, alleging the opposing party defamed her and sent false messages to her business associates, that she made internet posts calling her a drug dealer and stripper, and that years prior, she yelled at her in a Walmart. As the appellate opinion notes “[the alleged victim] complained that text messages were sent to her phone through applications that shielded the sender's phone number. She claimed to know that [the accused] sent the messages because the father of one of [the alleged victim’s] children, who also fathered one of [the accused’s] children, received the same messages within five or ten minutes. [the alleged victim] did not testify to the content of the text messages that she received, and the trial court sustained Wright's hearsay objection to the content of the messages sent to her child's father. [the alleged victim] also testified that [the accused] made what she considered a threatening Facebook post, although it was not directed at a particular person.” Based on this, a stalking injunction was entered against the accused, and she appealed.
The appellate court, taking each allegation in turn, reversed the injunction. The court reasoned that because the messages were sent to business associates and not to the alleged victim herself, this did not meet the definition of stalking. As to the online posts, the court held these did not constitute stalking because they were not directed at a specific person. With regard to messages allegedly sent by the accused, because no testimony was offered as to the content of the messages, and the alleged victim could not authenticate them as being sent by the accused, the court found this was insufficient evidence of stalking. Last, the court determined the incident at Walmart years prior was also insufficient to support a current injunction.
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